The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall visited Salisbury town centre just two weeks ago to declare the town back “open for business”.

The Royal pair had hoped to repair the town’s image and tourist industry following the nerve agent attack against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

They visited shops near the bench where the Skripals were found slumped and walked past the Zizzi restaurant the father and daughter dined at on the fateful evening.

EPA/GOOGLE MAPS

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: Camilla and Prince Charles were yards away from the park

Inside Russia’s top secret NERVE AGENT lab

Nerve agent to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal on British soil was developed at Shikhany

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Sharik the dog undergoes chemical tests

PA

SHOCK: Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess are fighting for their lives

Tonight it has emerged how British couple Dawn Sturgess, 44 and Charlie Rowley, 45, are now in a critical condition in hospital after coming into contact with the same poison.

The pair were allegedly left “feeling ill” and “preparing to go to hospital” after touching an item in Queen Elizabeth Gardens – a park 320 metres away from The Guildhall where Charles and Camilla visited.

Pals reportedly told how the couple “went into a zombie-like state" and "slumped against the wall”, before collapsing at home later on in nearby Amesbury and being rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

GOOGLE MAPS

NEARBY: The park is just 350 yards from where Camilla and Charles visited

Tonight it was confirmed the pair, who have no connections with Russia or security services, had come into contact with the nerve agent.

Scotland Yard's counter-terror chief Neil Basu said, however, it was too early to confirm whether the incident was linked to the Salisbury attack.

He said: "We are not in a position to say whether the nerve agent was from the same batch that the Skripals were exposed to.

"The possibility that these two investigations might be linked is clearly a line of enquiry for us.

EPA

REOPENED: The Royal pair hoped to boost tourism back into Salisbury

Sergei Skripal Salisbury poisoning in pictures

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury after being exposed to the Novichok nerve agent

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Former military intelligence colonel Sergei Skripal is detained

"It is important, however, that the investigation is led by the evidence available and the facts alone and we do't make any assumptions."

Mr Basu also said there was "no evidence" that Mr Rowley or Ms Sturgess "recently visited any of the sites that were decontaminated" after the Salisbury attack.